A surprise in the mail

Wow!  I am so excited!  Today I received a letter of acceptance for a grant, one of three that I have recently written.  I will be receiving funds from the Fall River Cultural Council to work on a project tentatively titled Traces and Remnants: Jewels Tell a Story.
This project is one of the foremost I will be writing about in the upcoming months.  I first thought of it as a way to learn more about my adopted city, Fall River.  At one time Fall River was a textile manufacturing powerhouse (my studio is in a converted mill building), part of the New England Industrial Revolution.  Most of the labor fueling that industry was supplied by women and young girls who were just beginning to define the role of the working female amidst great hardship. 
As a working female myself (though immensely empowered due to the labor of those first women), I thought it would be intriguing to research the unsung heroines, as well as some notable Victorian era Fall River Ladies (other than Lizzie Borden), and to interpret their experiences in a new body of work.  Besides the women who worked in the mills, Fall River was home to well known artists, architects, labor organizers, abolitionists and more.
My research will take place primarily at Fall River Historical Society, a few blocks away from my home in the Historic Highlands Neighborhood.  The entire project will also be exhibited there at the end of 2010.  So keep checking in as I'll reveal the project bit by bit!